From 22 November to 02 December 2021, Jean-Marc MOCELLIN, Managing Director of Tahiti Tourisme, accompanied by his teams and a delegation of Polynesian partners(Air Tahiti Nui, Aranui Cruises, Conrad Bora Bora Nui,Destinazione Polinesia – Gulliver Crociere, French Bee, Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa Spa, Hilton HotelTahiti,InterContinentalFrench Polynesia, Kia Ora Resorts, Maitai Hotels, Pearls Resorts of Tahiti, Un Mundo de Cruceros, Paul Gauguin Cruises, Safari Mario Moorea, Sofitel French Polynesia, South Pacific Management, The Brando, Tahiti Nui Travel, Tahiti Travel Services), took part in a tour of Europe, meeting 209 tour operators and travel agencies in Barcelona, Madrid, London, Zurich, Milan and Rome.
This intensive field trip follows on from the one to North America the previous month. The main aim of these tours of North America, followed by Europe to round off 2021, was to take stock of the situation with the distribution network (tour operators and travel agents), and to reassure them about the health and tourism prospects of Tahiti & Her Islands in the only accessible international markets. It was also important to be able to answer their questions and gather their advice and feedback on the past 18 months and future trends.
As in North America, this initiative was very much appreciated by European tour operators, as The Islands of Tahiti was the first destination to travel to meet its partners in the last year and a half. For the vast majority of them, this European Roadshow was the first professional event in which they had participated face-to-face, since all that time working remotely”, explains Jean-Marc MOCELLIN, who led the delegation.
The aim of the trip was also to take stock of the health status of The Islands of Tahiti , with active progress in the rate of vaccination of the local population against COVID-19 and the mobilisation of the Polynesian tourist industry to preserve the quality of the stay of international visitors through, for example, the Safety Ambassador Programme, launched last October, which was well received by all the tour operators met during the Roadshow.
Ending the tour on the old continent was important, as we hope to see a return of the European markets, which can now once again pass through the United States.
Tahiti Tourisme's bid to win back the North American market
“Tour operators have confirmed that The Islands of Tahiti continues to attract European customers and that requests for information about the destination are on the increase. We are also seeing last-minute bookings, between 2 and 1 month before departure, when travellers are reassured about travel conditions, especially since the United States reopened to Europe. The current trend in bookings is more for travel in the middle and high tourist seasons of 2022. In fact, sales in the low season remain timid due to the current upsurge in the epidemic in certain European countries, where the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly.
The fear of further border closures or sudden changes in protocols is still very present in the minds of travellers, and is holding back bookings for Tahiti & Her Islands, despite the destination’s good health and the lifting of travel restrictions within the country”, says Gina BUNTON, Director of International Operations at Tahiti Tourisme.
During the meetings, the aim was to respond to tour operators’ concerns about the health of the Polynesian tourism sector and the new products available at the destination, to find out what their respective customers’ main travel motivations are for The Islands of Tahiti, post-covid, and tooffer them the appropriate tools and information, with avenues for marketing cooperation to be explored to boost sales to the destination from 2022 onwards.
“The European outbound market, after the United States and France, is a source of tourist arrivals that needs to be supported by strengthening marketing cooperation and raising the destination’s profile in this region in order to face up to aggressive competition from Indian Ocean destinations (Seychelles, Maldives, Mauritius) and the reopening of competitors in the South Pacific such as Fiji”, said Verly ATAE, Tahiti Tourisme‘s Regional Manager for Europe and South America.
